Description: Born in 1829 to free black parents along the border between Maryland and the District of Columbia, Solomon Galleon Brown would become, at age 23, the first black employee of the Smithsonian. Starting out as a laborer in the Exchange Office, he ultimately became the personal assistant of Spencer Baird, the second secretary of the Smithsonian. By the time of his 1904 retirement,
Description: An employee of the Smithsonian since 1975, Michael Barnes is one of a select group of photographers with the responsibility of documenting the history of the Smithsonian.1 Pragmatic and passionate about photography, he worked his way up from the Smithsonian’s print shop and taught himself the art of taking pictures. An employee of the Smithsonian since 1975, Michael Barnes is